Face au crime

Working on a painfully thin budget from Allied Artists, Don Siegel managed to fashion an urban tale of violence and juvenile delinquency in Crime In The Streets. The urban sets remind me a lot of Otto Preminger's The Man With A Golden Arm which came out a year before. And the delinquents aren't romanticized as they are in West Side Story.

James Whitmore stars as a local social worker working out of a settlement house who keeps his ear to the ground for any rumblings of a rumble on the mean streets of his urban neighborhood. With two gangs, the Hornets and the Dukes, he's got his hands full.

It's the Hornets here that concern the viewer of Crime In The Streets. They have a charismatic leader in young John Cassavetes who at 27 is way too old to be playing an 18 year old, but so did most of the kids look way too old in Glenn Ford's class in The Blackboard Jungle. Cassavetes is repeating his role from this same story made as television drama two years earlier. Also repeating are Mark Rydell as one of Cassavetes lieutenants who really isn't wrapped too tight and Will Kulava as Sal Mineo's father.

When local citizen Malcolm Atterbury reports one of their peers for having a zip gun, Cassavetes sets in motion a plan to kill him. Mineo and Rydell are in on it. Whitmore gets wind of it and does what he can to stop it.

Don Siegel gets good performances out of his ensemble cast. One player I failed to mention is Virginia Gregg who may have gotten her career role as the mother of Cassavetes and Peter Votrian. Cassavetes she feels is a lost cause, she's concerned about Votrian who idolizes his brother and might get into the gang culture. Gregg is great example of one who was probably a battered wife when she had a husband living in the place and one who is too shell shocked to deal with her rebellious son.

Though it's dated Crime In The Streets is still entertaining and it's a good sociological treatise on juvenile delinquency.

A social worker tries to tame a street gang. Cassavetes is pretty good in his second film credit, although he was a bit old at 26 to be playing a teen. Rydell is quite creepy in his film debut as a psychotic gang member who can't conceal his glee at the thought of committing murder. Rydell, like Cassavetes, went on to become a director. His second film role would not come until 1973 in Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye," when he played another frightening character. Mineo plays a character not unlike the one had just played in "Rebel Without a Cause." In his follow-up to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," Siegel creates a gritty atmosphere but stresses the melodramatics.

"Crime In the Streets" tells the story of growing up in the slums, and what some young people will do to get out, or just to have a few kicks to help them forget their dead-end lives. This film's non-existent budget actually helps to add to the realism, with sets that are bleak and cheap-looking. Back alleys never looked so lurid and dangerous as they do in this sadly forgotten film. "Crime In the Streets" features some wonderful performances, especially Sal Mineo, who doesn't have enough scenes, but when he is on camera, the magic is there. Anyone who is familiar with Mineo's work knows what I'm talking about. The scene between Sal and his father is unforgettable. The actress who plays Frankie Dane's mother also gives an amazing, dramatic performance as the over-worked waitress, abandoned with two sons, all living in a dismal tenement apartment. John Cassevetes is waaaaay too old to play the 18 year old delinquent, though his performance is fine. It is depressing to witness how badly people treat each other in this film, and it is particularly disturbing to see Frankie abuse his little brother. He really treats this child savagely, hitting him, threatening him, and holding knives to his throat. I also should mention the fantastic jazz score featured, that compliments the dark, shadowy images and the taught drama unfolding on the screen. "Crime In the Streets" is almost impossible to find as there has never been an official video or DVD release. My copy is a bootleg DVD, and the quality is good enough. This and other early Sal Mineo films deserve to be re-discovered, but I don't imagine this one being re-issued any time soon. This is probably one of the best in the 50's 'JD' category.

The film reminds me of one of those powerhouse Studio One TV plays of the early '50's. And that's a key problem. The movie comes across as a filmed stage play as though the format hasn't changed at all. I expect TV playwrite Reginald Rose had a lot to do with that approach, while ace action director Don Siegel simply followed out the script in uninvolved fashion.

In short, the screenplay is way too talky, under-produced, and poorly staged. Never once, for example, did I forget that the street scene was mounted on a sound stage, with all kinds of traffic noises at the same time cars seldom pass on the roadway. Also, the few sets are so unrelentingly dreary and without a shred of adornment, you might think the deficiency is in the people rather than the conditions. After all, a shred or two would be more realistic, even in a slum. So, why rub our nose in it.

Then too, the screenplay repeats about every delinquency cliché of the day—alienation, no father, poverty, to cite a few. Now, there is some truth in these clichés, as there is in most clichés. The trouble is the script simply parades them in unoriginal fashion leaving the impression of having seen it all before. Worse, that intense actor John Cassavetes is given little to do but brood and posture and look 27 instead of the supposed 18. And what's with dressing him in a yuppie v-neck sweater that looks like it belongs on a Harvard freshman.

Nonetheless, it is an accomplished cast with some colorful characterizations. Mineo's excellent as the reluctant delinquent, Gregg fairly oozes bread-winner exhaustion, and little Votrian can look pathetic on cue. At the same time, Rydell's sadistic grin suggests needed malevolence, while Whitmore's social worker is happily no miracle man. Clearly, this is an earnest effort whose heart is in the right place. Still and all, the positives are too few to outweigh the stagy negatives. In short, there're good reasons this obscurity is not included among the delinquency classics of the day.

For revenge and thrills, juvenile delinquent gang leader John Cassavetes (as Frank "Frankie" Dane) plots to kill a man. Nail-biting Sal Mineo (as Angelo "Baby" Gioia) will lure the man into an alley, open-mouthed Mark Rydell (as Lou Macklin) will hold him down, and Mr. Cassavetes will slice and dice him to death. Little brother Peter Votrian (as Richie Dane) overhears Cassavetes planning the murder, and tells concerned social worker James Whitmore (as Ben Wagner). But, try as he might, Mr. Whitmore is unable to reform Cassavetes before the scheduled stabbing.

The excellent script for "Crime in the Streets" was written by Reginald Rose, and had previously been seen as a live installment ABC-TV's "The Elgin Hour" (a dramatic anthology series). Television in the 1950s became fertile ground for great performances, and Whitmore's last attempt to reach Cassavetes, on the fire escape, is certainly high drama. The entire production is wonderfully acted; and, while Cassavetes is clearly far too old for the part, at least he gets a chance to repeat his role for film.

Mineo gives the "Hornets" some youth appeal, and shows off his ability to react to other actors. Rydell, who became quite a successful director, is interesting. The lesser roles are fine. And, seeming to come out of left field, young Votrian is startlingly good. The specially designed outdoor set gives it a surreal quality, and director Don Siegel manages it beautifully. The plot is almost Shakespearian, and with the addition of music, you could imagine a certain "West Side Story" being born...

********* Crime in the Streets (6/10/56) Don Siegel, Reginald Rose ~ John Cassavetes, James Whitmore, Sal Mineo, Peter Votrian